Defensive rookie of the year: Nick Bosa

Nick Bosa was the first defensive player off the board in last April’s draft and he never made the 49ers think twice about their decision to take him with the second overall pick.

Bosa missed the preseason because of an ankle injury, but recovered in time to open the year with a sack in a win over the Buccaneers. He’d go on to pick up six more sacks as the team began the year with eight straight wins, which had people talking about him as a potential defensive player of the year.

He’d only pick up two more sacks over the second half of the season and that buzz has died out, but Bosa has continued generating pressure and had nine quarterback hits over the final four weeks of the year. Those performances came without Dee Ford drawing attention at the other defensive end spot, which allowed defenses to devote more resources to slowing Bosa and also opened up chances for others in the front seven to make plays.

Bosa finished the year with 47 tackles, 25 quarterback hits, 16 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, an interception and two fumble recoveries to with his nine sacks. That productivity as part of one of the league’s stingiest defenses has made Bosa PFT’s choice as the defensive rookie of the year.

Bosa’s top competition for the top spot came from another pass rusher. Josh Allen had 10.5 sacks after being selected seventh overall by the Jaguars and formed a strong tandem with Yannick Ngakoue off the edge, although it will be short-lived if the team can’t come to terms on an extension with Ngakoue this offseason.

The first two linebackers selected in April were Devin White and Devin Bush and both showed well as rookies.

White missed three games with injuries while racking up 91 tackles, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, 2.5 sacks, an interception and two touchdowns for the Buccaneers. Bush tailed off after having four fumble recoveries and two interceptions in the first half of the Steelers season, but the overall package was one that should leave the Steelers confident about his future in their defense.

44 responses to “Defensive rookie of the year: Nick Bosa”

Bosa has also turned out to be a good guy who always gives credit to his teammates in post-game interviews and is a great locker room presence. Will be a cornerstone of the Niners’ defense for a long time.

I remember everyone saying “he’s going to suck. Too many injuries. Didn’t even play last year.” Blah blah blah. Now he’s DROY and you wish he was on your team. By next year or the year after he will be DPOY multiple times. Good job, Nick. Go Niners!

In a normal year for rookies, Maxx Crosby from the Raiders would have been rookie of the year, but Bosa is having an MVP season. The 49ers had the #2 pick in the draft last year because they were that bad. Bosa didn’t do it singlehandedly, but he had as big an impact on a team from the defensive side of the ball as I’ve seen since Ronnie Lott’s rookie season when he led the 49ers to their first super bowl in 1981. This 49ers’ team is stirring up those kind of memories, and I’m thinking history is about to repeat itself in San Francisco.

Must have just looked at first Rd guys before dashing this off on a holiday. Check out Crosby’s sacks, tfl, ff and pd. No problem with Bosa winning, did it for a top seed. Hard to see how you have no mention of Crosby. Should be a strong second choice.

Count me as one of the skeptics because he was injured early last season in college and he also injured himself in training camp. The early bye week worked great for Frisco, because it gave him time to get healthy for the rest of the season, and Frisco has a bye week after winning the number 1 seed.

niners816 says:
January 1, 2020 at 10:09 am
I remember everyone saying “he’s going to suck. Too many injuries. Didn’t even play last year.” Blah blah blah. Now he’s DROY and you wish he was on your team. By next year or the year after he will be DPOY multiple times. Good job, Nick. Go Niners!

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Throttle back. He is PFTs defensive rookie of the year. Translation: it means NOTHING. It’s literally the equivalent of you making the selection.

Let’s wait for the NFLs selections to come out before you get all excited.

lol I love the fans that come on here with their chest out because their team had a good regular season…do niners fans really think garoppolo is good enough to win them a game in the 4th quarter? Because they’re going to have to win at least 1 game like that. Better hope it’s not the eagles coming to town with desean jackson in the lineup for the divisional round

Robert “HandyMan” Kraft says:
January 1, 2020 at 10:42 am
niners816 says:
January 1, 2020 at 10:09 am
I remember everyone saying “he’s going to suck. Too many injuries. Didn’t even play last year.” Blah blah blah. Now he’s DROY and you wish he was on your team. By next year or the year after he will be DPOY multiple times. Good job, Nick. Go Niners!

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Throttle back. He is PFTs defensive rookie of the year. Translation: it means NOTHING. It’s literally the equivalent of you making the selection.

Let’s wait for the NFLs selections to come out before you get all excited.
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He will be the NFL’s DROY, too. Make sure to screenshot this, and I’ll accept your apology when it becomes official.

isithockeyseasonyet says:
January 1, 2020 at 10:49 am
lol I love the fans that come on here with their chest out because their team had a good regular season…do niners fans really think garoppolo is good enough to win them a game in the 4th quarter? Because they’re going to have to win at least 1 game like that. Better hope it’s not the eagles coming to town with desean jackson in the lineup for the divisional round
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This is how I know you don’t watch games. Jimmy G has put the team on his back numerous times in the 4th quarter this year to win the game. The Saints and Cardinals games come to mind. He was great against Seattle last week, too. So the answer to your ridiculous question is yes. Jimmy G has already proven he can lead this team to a win. And btw, whoever the Niners play, the Eagles or Seahawks….nobody is scared of either team. The Niners will take care of either one.

Real happy we picked this guy. Seems like most niner fans wanted him but until the pick was in ….stressful.Bosa is solid on and off the field and was raised right by his parents.You see some,like Aldon Smith and it is just tragic to watch.One thing that has to go into this award for Nick was the turn around of the 49ers who had the second pick in last year’s draft , to number one NFC seed in 2020 !

I don’t really care about awards other then winning the SB. I have no problem with Bosa getting DROY but seriously its easier to get sacks when you are on a winning teams and the rest of your defense is top rated. Now getting sacks for a under .500 team with a bottom 5 defence is a lot tougher … right?
Oh wait a minute Crosby had more sacks than Bosa … maybe they combined the two Bosa stats?
It’s pretty sad that Crosby DOES NOT even get mentioned.

I forget how many interceptions and fumble recoveries Maxx Crosby had?

He had a fine year. Not saying he didn’t. But most talking heads and analysts will have Bosa and Allen ahead of him DROY lists because he was not getting chipped or doubled nearly as often as Bosa and Allen.

Go back and watch all 3 again and tell me who got more attention from opposing offenses. Then put Crosby at 3rd on the DROY lists like everyone who isn’t a raider homer has him.

HAHAHA …must be rough to line up next to the 3rd overall pick from 2 years ago, the 7th overall pick from three years ago, the 17th overall pick from 4 years ago. THats brutal to play well along that line.

You can put MAxx Crosby along other rookies like Suggs, Feeney, and Peppers to have double digit sacks, and at least 4 forced fumbles…not bad company. Crosby’s 12.7 percent pressure rate is better than Aaron Donald, Jadeveon Clowney, or Chandler Jones. His 42 total pressures are 13th among all NFL defensive linemen. NFL has to justify top picks, but this guy is a gem with 107 players being picked in front of him. Major props to Mayock!

Not taking anything away from Bosa, the kid can play. But Maxx Crosby has put up one heck of a year with little help from his defense. Crosby got 10 sacks this year, Raiders had 13 all of last year……enuf said

If Crosby was a first rounder, he would have won this award. He arguably had better overall stats playing on a terrible defense, unlike Bosa and Allen. He got snubbed because he was a fourth-round pick.

Devin Bush led all rookies in tackles, I believe. He had a really good year and is going to get better. However, he’s kind of over-shadowed by defensive teammates like TJ Watt, Mincah Fitzpatrick and Cam Heyward, among others. Bosa really took a leadership position for the 49ers too, and he’s a fine choice.